


by tooth and claw and tail

by quandary



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, byleth is a dragon too, monsterfic??, no i am not tagging every character, the entire blue lion's house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21738892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quandary/pseuds/quandary
Summary: Byleth emerges from the sightless realm Solon tossed them into, but they are a little different than they remembered.
Relationships: Byleth & The Entire Blue Lions House
Kudos: 63





	by tooth and claw and tail

**Author's Note:**

> this is actually My Very First fe3h fic. written for my friend emma when we were lamenting the distinct lack of dragon!byleth work. it is kitschy, self-indulgent and written with no true motive beyond "byleth is a dragon just like the immaculate one. why should she get to have all the fun?"
> 
> the actual title of this is "and then byleth took them all to mcdonalds except all they did was order one black coffee and fly off".

Byleth ripped their way out of that lightless realm, by tooth and claw and tail. Merging with Sothis changed them not just physically, but emotionally too. They felt... whole. Complete. The quiet in their head was welcome, no longer was she whispering in their ear about one thing or another; twisting them this way and that like everyone else was doing. Like Rhea, or Seteth or even dad. But for now, their heart burned with hate.

They bounded back into reality, ready to tear Solon apart only to be met with stone and debris and a few weeds blowing in the wind. He had escaped. The failure stung them, deeper than it should have. But it was him and his cronies that killed their father, and for that they would pay.

In some corner of their mind they knew they weren't human, that when they merged with Sothis, they took on a form much like the Immaculate One from myth. And with the direction their life has taken recently, this honestly came as no surprise. (Why, before they knew it, Edelgard would be announcing she had been the Flame Emperor all along while twirling her several devious mustachios.)

They landed roughly on their chin and left arm, limbs and wing and tail all twisted. A growl rumbled in their throat, feral and savage. Annoyance flashed through them as they picked themselves off the cracked stone. Something about their limbs felt wrong, like they were filled with lead and made of jelly at the same time.

Their tail kept slapping at the trees behind them; Byleth was sure a couple had been snapped by the impact. Scales the colour of seaweed caught the sun. An ugly colour, they thought.

The wings on their back all but twitched with anticipation to be released, to soar. And if they could fly, catching--finding--Solon shouldn't be an issue. Surely they could worry about becoming human later. 

Byleth gave their bulk a shake, the muscles on their back aching for release. Their claws tore great rends in the earth.

They reared up on their hind legs and stretched their wings, the mighty wingspan tickling the copse of trees on either side of the clearing. 

Noise--familiar noise--burst from the underbrush on their left, with several tiny bodies rushing forth.

"I saw the professor come this way! Hurry, we might still catch them--"

Dmitri and Dedue were the first to enter the clearing, the rest of the Blue Lion house following shortly after. Byleth looked down at them, blinking in surprise as they gaped in open fear.

"Get back, it's another demonic beast!" Dmitri, ever the gallant and brave fool, placed himself lance first in front of his peers. Byleth would have sighed, but they were sure the gust of it would send the poor things flying back into the woods. Hurting their students wasn't something they wanted to do, however accidentally. (Could they talk? Byleth hadn't tried...)

Instead, they opted to lower themselves on all fours, so as to appear less meancing and, "i-will-eat-the-flesh-from-your-bones". But, the act of doing so had their wings retract, the left tip of which catching something small and definitely student-sized (whoops). Which in turn made Ingrid react and stab Byleth's foot with her lance, which made Byleth roar which made everyone else otherwise stab, slash or shoot fire at them. It... hurt. A lot.

"Enough!" Byleth hollered, hoping the act of human speech would snap them all out of it. Felix hung off their arm like a wild animal, his sword dug deep in the unprotected flesh of their underarm. Mercedes had the decency to look ashamed, Ashe was about ready to cry and Annette stood white as a sheet. Ingrid was a cross between angry and scared, swiping at some crass comment Slyvain made. 

Gently as they could, Byleth collected Felix in their giant hand and placed him back on the ground. Sheepishly, he took back his sword. Dmitri tended to Dedue and his broken arm (whoops). Byleth lowered themselves once more, eyeing their students.

"I'm sorry for scaring everyone." Their voice seemed to rumble the very air. Silence took hold. It was Dmitri who broke it, eventually. His cheeks reddened, as if embarassed by the way he acted.

"And we're all deeply sorry for attacking you, professor."

Byleth had enough. The urge to flounce after Solon had left them, leaving them with a bone-deep exhaustion instead. Besides, there was no real way they could have caught him.

White light glowed from the crest seemingly planted in their chest, and bit by bit they returned to themselves. 

"It's good to have you back." Dmitri dropped a hand on their shoulder and squeezed.


End file.
